A commonly-known print system includes a printer and a print data supplying device that supplies print data to the printer and causes the printer to produce a printout of an image generated by an application program. For example, in a known print system, a print data supplying device supplies a printer with print data pertaining to a sales slip (hereinafter called a “receipt”) image generated by a POS (Point Of Sales) application program, thereby causing the printer to produce a printout of the receipt image.
In the print system, when a printer is replaced with another printer, there sometimes arises a case where a difference is apparent between a printout produced by a pre-replacement printer (a printer employed before replacement) and a printout produced by a post-replacement printer (a printer employed after replacement) because of a difference in specifications of the pre-replacement printer and those of the post-replacement printer. In such case, in order to acquire a printout analogous to the printout of the pre-replacement printer, specifications and settings of the application program must be altered in consideration of specifications of the post-replacement printer.
In this regard, in such case, the print data supplying device is left with a configuration for outputting print data for the pre-replacement printer. Raster image data pertaining to an image to be printed are temporarily generated from the print data (internal print data) output from the configuration. Subsequently, it is conceived to generate print data used for causing the post-replacement printer to produce a printout of the raster image data and to supply the thus-generated print data to the printer. According to such configuration, a printout similar to that generated by the pre-replacement printer can be acquired by the post-replacement printer without modification of the specifications and settings of the application program.
In the above print system, when an image to be printed has been subjected to processing desired by the user during the course of printout and a printout of the image is generated, enhanced convenience can be achieved. For example, in a print system which produces a printout of a receipt image, provided that a keyword (e.g., the name of a specific commodity, or the like) specified by the user is included in a receipt image, when the image (e.g., a coupon image, an advertisement image, and the like) specified by the user is pasted to the receipt image, advertisement of a specific commodity to customers who purchased the specific commodity, advertisement of commodities relevant to the specific commodity or distribution of a coupon can be performed without fail while attempts are being made to lessen efforts, thereby enabling an improvement in the convenience of the print system.
In this respect, the print data supplying device is considered to temporarily generate raster image data pertaining to a print subject image from the print data (internal print data) output from a printer driver; to subject the raster image data to processing desired by the user; to subsequently generate print data used for causing a post-replacement printer to produce a printout of the processed raster image data; and to supply the thus-generated print data to the printer. As a result, a print subject image is subjected to processing desired by the user during the course of generation of a print output and a print output is generated, without involvement of modifications to specifications and settings of an application program. In addition, the convenience of the print system is enhanced.
According to the internal print data, the print system switches specifics (processing for generating print data from the internal print data) of print data generation processing performed by the print data supplying device, so that further enhanced convenience can be achieved.
When the above-described print system is achieved, for example, settings pertaining to processing to which a print subject image is subjected or settings pertaining to switching of print data generation processing have been stored in advance as configuration data. Print subject image processing and print data generation processing are generally switched on the basis of the configuration data. In the above print system, there is a case where a directory associated with an individual printer is used as a directory where such configuration data are to be stored. For example, in a case where a printer is connected to a computer via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface, when a serial number (identification number used for identifying an individual printer) is stored in a readable manner in the printer via the USB interface, a directory generated on the basis of the serial number is used. In contrast, when the serial number is not stored in the printer in a readable manner via the USB interface, there is sometimes used a directory generated from identification information about the USB port (a connection port complying with the USB interface standards) to which the printer is connected. In such case, the directory where the configuration file is to be stored varies from one print data supplying device to another on the basis of the serial number of the printer or identification information about the USB port to which the printer is connected. Therefore, operation for setting an configuration file becomes laborious for a person (e.g., a person in charge of setting up a print system, an administrator of the print system, or the like) who performs setting of the configuration file of the print system (the print data supplying device).